Junior dos
Santos knows Stipe
Miocic well after having fought the former heavyweight king
twice under the UFC banner.
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With that in mind, “Cigano” expects Miocic to present a far more
formidable threat to newly-crowned heavyweight champ Jon Jones than
did previous opponent Ciryl
Gane.
“I was pretty sure he would impose his game against Gane or
[Francis] Ngannou, but against Miocic the challenges will be
different,” dos Santos told Sherdog.com. “Actually I see Stipe as
the challenge to Jon
Jones.”
The Brazilian believes Miocic’s wrestling ability will force Jones
to take more risks.
“If he insists on taking Miocic down, he must use a lot of
strength,” dos Santos said. “Now, as a heavyweight that may take
its toll in the later rounds. But I do believe Jones is the
favorite, I would say 60-40. I’m really excited to see that
one.”
Dos Santos also says that Jones hasn’t faced an opponent who
possesses knockout power comparable to Miocic’s. While “Cigano” has
squared off against the likes of Shane
Carwin, Mark Hunt,
Alistair
Overeem, Mirko
Filipovic, Cain
Velasquez and Ngannou, he points to Miocic as the hardest
puncher he has ever faced.
“What produces the heavier punch is not the size of the hand,
weight or arm. A counter punch with speed and precision like Miocic
has hits harder than any one of those guys,” dos Santos said. “I
remember in the second round of our first fight, he hit me with the
worst punch I’ve ever received. I immediately saw everything black.
I was lucky he grabbed me during that sequence, and I won via
decision. Jon Jones will
have to deal with that.”
After suffering a shoulder injury in the third round of his fight
with Yorgan De
Castro at Eagle FC 47 last May, dos Santos was forced to
undergo two surgeries. Now he has returned to sparring and is
considering a boxing proposal for July.
“I love the training routine and I can tell by the level of the
sparring I have here at ATT what I can deliver,” he said.
“Sometimes my wife asks me to retire and I just tell her, if I stop
now you will have a sad husband for the rest of your life. But of
course, my priority is to recover 100% and return in perfect
condition.”